The Day: Afropunk Fest, Martial Arts School Closing and Atlantic Yards Development News

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You can expect pleasant walking weather in the nabe this weekend. (Photo by Francisco Daum)

Good morning, Fort Greene and Clinton Hill.

The National Weather Service predicts that today, and the rest of the weekend, will be sunny with highs in the upper 80s. How will you spend the weekend, locals? Maybe you’ll be at Commodore Barry Park Saturday and Sunday for Afropunk Fest, a music festival bringing together hip-hop artists such as Danny Brown, Jean Grae and Chuck D, and indie performers such as Erykah Badu and Janelle Monáe, among others. Check out the full list of performers here. What acts are you excited for?

  • The Humble School of Martial Arts on Fulton Street between Washington Avenue and Saint James Place, facing a 200 percent rent increase, will close its doors at the end of the month, The New York Daily News reported. Chief Master Sabu Lewis told the paper that this isn’t the first time gentrification has forced his business to shutter: In fact, this marks his academy’s seventh move in Brooklyn. He hopes to open a new, smaller center eight blocks east – on Fulton Street at Franklin Avenue, he told the paper. Stop by the school’s current location on Saturday between noon and 5 p.m. for a Bake and Break fundraiser and demonstration to help raise funds for the move.
  • Atlantic Yards developer Bruce C. Ratner is looking for an investor to buy up to 80 percent of the $5 billion Atlantic Yards development, The New York Times reported. The development, The Times reported, would eventually include 14 residential buildings and 6,000 apartments near Atlantic and Flatbush Avenues. Ratner’s company could reap up to $800 million from this sale, according to the paper. The company said in June that it invested $500 million in cash in the project, according to the Atlantic Yards Report, so making this move could result in a very significant profit. The investment will probably be structured over five years in multiple phases, as the buildings are constructed, The New York Post reported.
  • Jim Leyland and Gene Lamont, the manager and bench coach of the Detroit Tigers, respectively, will give a baseball workshop about “the game behind the game” at Long Island University Brooklyn’s Steinberg Wellness Center today at 10:45 a.m. The event, sponsored by the university’s Division of Athletic Training, Health and Exercise Sciences, will be held in memory of George Kalifatis, who was an alumnus of LIU’s baseball team, a Detroit Tiger and a sports agent. For more information, contact Professor Eugene Spatz at (718) 488-1026 or eugene.spatz@liu.edu.
  • If you’re Christian and looking for a comedy show that respects your faith and values, you may be interested in The Night of Gospel Laughs, which will be held tomorrow at 6 p.m. at the Kumble Theater at Long Island University Brooklyn. Featured comedians include Akintunde, B.O.U.Q.U.I, Chris Williams and others. The theater is located on Flatbush Avenue between DeKalb and Willoughby Avenues. Tickets, which cost $50 – or $20 for VIP seating – are available at the theater’s box office. You can call (718) 488-1624, or (917) 826-3566 for group rates.